Raising Heroes: Nurturing Magic While Preparing for a Harsh World

How Do I Prepare My Kids for a World That’s Not My?Own?

One of the greatest challenges I face as a parent is the constant struggle to balance preparing my children to survive in the world as it is and nurturing the magic that makes them who they are.

Last night, captivated by The Hunger Games, my twins watched the movie after devouring the books. Meanwhile, I was reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz.?

These stories, though different, share something painfully real: the stark division between good and evil, the brutal decisions people must make to survive, and the repeated cycles of moral dilemmas throughout history.

It’s easy to see the lines between right and wrong in fiction or history. Yet, in our everyday world, those lines blur. We face countless moral battles and harsh realities, but rarely are they as clear-cut.?

And so, I think about my children, knowing they’ll face their own challenges?—?though hopefully less extreme than the ones they read about?—?and I wonder: How do I prepare them for a world that sometimes feels dark while also helping them become who they are and love their lives?

How do I prepare them for a world that sometimes feels dark while also helping them become who they are and love their?lives?

One of my twins is a dreamer with a creative brain. As a visionary who can create magic from nothing but his imagination, he’s sometimes unconcerned with the logistics of life?—?the timelines and the rules of the real world.

The other twin, wise beyond her years, is pure kindness. She is sensitive and empathetic, determined to do what’s right but vulnerable to the harshness of reality. Both are fun and loved children who regularly cheer for the underdog: One is our irresistible Dex from Keeper of the Lost Cities, and the other is our brilliant Hermoine from Harry Potter.

I want them to be ready for the battles that lie ahead. I want them to be good at life, to toughen up and hold their own, but without losing their magic, hope, or trust.

And for a long time, I’ve thought that I needed to prepare them for the world as it is. But now, for the first time, I’m questioning that assumption. Can we ever truly prepare our children for a world we all experience so differently?

Can we ever truly prepare our children for a world we all experience so differently?

We each see life through our own filters, biases, and truths. The world they face is not the world I’ve experienced, just as I didn’t grow up in my parents’ world. So, how can I possibly prepare them?

This morning, I stumbled upon an interesting study that unexpectedly relates to the question I’ve been reflecting on. Yale University School of Medicine Associate Professor F. Perry Wilson shared the research in a Medium article I read as I put the finishing touches on this post.

It was a study about hot sauce, of all things, explaining how expectations influence perceptions. I’ve pasted the link to it above if you want to read more, but the gist was that all the ways our brains gather information to create “reality”?—?eyes, ears, sensory nerves, proprioceptive receptors, etc.?—?are fallible, prone to error and dependent on our prior experiences.?

And if that isn’t bad enough, what we perceive as reality is shaped by our expectations.

So, if I warn them of the dangers of life, am I, in some way, setting the expectation that it will be hard or scary?

So, if I warn them of the dangers of life, am I, in some way, setting the expectation that it will be hard or?scary?

Perhaps the answer isn’t preparing them for the world as it is but helping them become the best version of themselves in whatever world they encounter.?

Maybe it’s about teaching them to trust their instincts, bring forth their vision, and set their own moral compass so that when they face challenges, no matter what comes their way, they don’t just survive but thrive with their magic intact.